Devilish Grins
by geniusindahead
Summary: Alice is finally living the life she always dreamed of until an unknown number turns her world around a single text at a time.
1. Chapter 1

So this is my first fanfic on this site :3 wish me luck, i hope you all enjoy33

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Alice sat at her desk absentmindedly, tapping her pen to a constant beat against the wood. She hated her job. Being secretary to Bruce Wayne was definitely not as exciting as one would had thought. The man was never in his office, which meant Alice had to actually do her job: answer the phone, schedule appointments, take messages, etc. She sighed heavily. Even on the occasional days he did decide to show up he looked rugged, obviously hung over from a long night. Not a look expected from Gotham City's most eligible bachelor. Alice rolled her eyes, _Bruce Wayne is soo overrated, _she couldn't help but think.

Work was surprisingly slow this day. Usually the constant ring of the phone and scheduling caused the time to quickly tick by, but today it seemed to be nonexistent. Alice stopped tapping her pencil and opened a web browser on her laptop. _Mind as well see what the rest of the city is up to today, _she thought halfheartedly. It didn't take long to find out that something wasn't right about the on going's of the city that day. Apparently the Joker had struck again, there was a huge photo of him and his cheesy grin setting fire to Wall Street. _No wonder no one has been calling, _Alice thought, _they're all freaking out about their stocks. _

At about quarter till five Alice decided that she would call quits for the day. She grabbed her peacoat from the cloak room and set off towards her flat a few blocks north. The day was chilly and she tucked her chin into her jacket. It was early October and already the evenings were growing cold. She mentally reminded herself to go shopping for new winter attire, hers were definitely growing too thin for comfort against the oncoming harsh weather. The sky was getting unusually dark and Alice found herself quickening her pace, she hated being in the open city after dark. A couple more turns down a few more streets, into her building, up twenty flights of stairs (_Stupid broken elevator..._), and she was home.

As much as she hated her job Alice had to be thankful. Before her employment under Mr. Wayne she had been living in the not so great south side of Gotham. Lets just say that is one place you never want to even leave your house alone in. She had seen the ad for Wayne Industries one day while on the occasional stroll through the city. Alice had doubted she would actually get the job, but a few days after her interview she was overjoyed to learn that she was hired.

Those first few weeks changed everything for her. When it was learned of her living arrangements she was immediately moved to a safer location, apparently Mr. Wayne had an issue about his employees living around poverty and crime. Not that Alice was complaining, she had never been so blessed in her life. Her new salary was beyond what she could had ever imagined, and her flat was spacious, if not large for a single woman on her own. Her wardrobe definitely took a turn towards the better, her appearance as well. She had only been working under Mr. Wayne a few months and already she was a changed woman.

She entered her flat and immediately took off her heels. Her feet were sore after walking up that treacherous amount of on the news for background noise Alice set to work on some dinner. As she cooked her meal the news rattled on about the recent actions of the Joker, causing Alice to get quite annoyed. She was tired of the constant recaps of havoc in her city, and how no one ever talked about _stopping_ it. True, Harvey Dent was a light within the darkness, but even then he was only a small glitter compared to all the crime the city held. **"Why the Joker is causing mayhem,"** the newscaster started saying, **"we just don't know.". **Alice rolled hereyes at that one. By now she was seated on the couch watching the newscast intently while eating her mac and cheese.

Obviously no one knew why the Joker did what he did, he probably had no reason at all, _other than wanting an excuse to show off that devilish grin of his._

She then heard her cell vibrate from her purse and grudgingly got up to look at it. She had few friends but the only person who ever contacted her was her dear mother, who most likely only did it to make sure her daughter was still breathing. Flipping up the screen Alice was surprised to find a text from an unknown number.

'**Hey dollface'**

Alice looked at it without words. _Freaking pervs_. She set the phone down on the kitchen counter and sat down once again on the couch. Only a few moments passed before her phone buzzed again. She rolled her eyes and attempted to continue watching the tube. A few more minutes passed and another buzz was heard, then a few more. Agitated, Alice got off the couch and stalked towards her phone, ready to give the person a piece of her mind.

'**Enjoying the news?'**

Alice gulped and continued reading,

'**If I were you, I'd be looking at the stars.'**

**'Seriously darling, outside.'**

**'NOW.'**

Panicked Alice went to her window and peered into the darkness. No stars could be seen and the texts confused her. There was no way anyone could had been watching her, yet the thought still gave her a slight chill. Her phone buzzed again in her hand and hesitantly she read on,

'**Look again.'**

Alice peaked through her curtains once again and gasped at what she was witnessing. The sky seemed to be ablaze, bits and pieces of debris flying through the sky, eerily reminding Alice of shooting stars. The building across the street from hers was set on fire and burning quickly. She could already hear the sound of sirens coming to the rescue. She looked at the unknown number with fear and with shaking hands texted back.

_'Who are you?'_

She got no reply for a long time. She didn't receive an answer until she had long past went to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

WOO! chapter two(: im excited, glad to see people are responding well -squeee-!

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Alice awoke with a groggy feeling. Memories of the previous night flashed through her thoughts. Hesitantly, she pulled on her midnight blue silk robe and tiptoed out to her living room. The curtains were tightly closed from the previous night, and as unnoticeably as she could, Alice peeked through to look at the building from the night before. The fire and smoke was long gone but the remains were horrendous. The once white stone was now ashen and nearly all the windows were blown. _Those poor families._

Then the real memories struck her. She ran as fast as could to where she last left her phone, yet once she saw it her pace slowed. If she was lucky the person behind the texts had replied. If not, than hopefully the mysterious person would never bug her again. Picking it up she slid open the screen. To her faint surprise she had indeed gotten a reply.

'**Your secret admirer Sweetcheeks'**

Alice couldn't help but roll her eyes at that one. Having no time for a creepy stalker she decided on blocking the number and returning to her life as normal. She quickly showered and dried, putting her hair in large curlers to dry as she decided what to wear. Usually dressing was nothing extraordinary for her, but getting a little dressed up always lightened her mood. _And my mood definitely needs lightened after last night. _Growing up in a poorer neighborhood Alice was used to seeing arson and crimes, but something about the night before haunted her.

Deciding on a classy peacock blue button down shirt, and a waist high pencil length skirt, Alice got ready for the day. When finished she observed herself in the mirror. She wasn't necessarily stunning, but she was proud of her classic good looks. High cheek bones, green eyes, tall, rather a lanky skinny, and mid-back length poker straight hair. Though on this day her hair rolled down her back in soft curls.

Grabbing her purse and heels in one hand she locked her door and made the treacherous walk to the ground floor. Nearly twenty long minutes later she arrived at the bottom and slipped her black heels onto her feet and walked into the bright morning of Gotham City. Feet aching, Alice hailed a cab to take her the few blocks towards Wayne Industries. Not even a minute into the ride her phone beeped, causing her to jump which earned her a confused stair from the driver. Slightly unnerved Alice took out her phone. It was another text, from another unknown number. She gulped and hit 'open'.

**'Blocking me dear? Now that hurts.'**

Thinking hard about what to reply she just resent her previous question from the night before;

_'Who are you?'_

Nearly a minute passed and the anticipation was nearly killing her. Just as the cab pulled up to her office her phone beeped once again. Restraining herself Alice paid the driver and went into the building. Leroy, the doorman, held the door open for her as always and the man behind the front desk greeted her cheerfully as he usually did when she signed in. Nothing about her life was out of the ordinary and part of her almost wanted to keep it that way. Almost.

As she waited for an elevator she decided to read the text;

'**I've told you already honey'**

Alice made a pouted face. _If only people would stop avoiding simple questions._

'_Tell me who you are', _she texted, _'or else i'll just ignore you.'_

At the time this seemed like a good idea. But as she boarded her elevator and waited she started to feel nervous. It was never a good idea to tick off anyone in this city, let alone a complete stranger who knows where you live, knows your number, and apparently can unblock being blocked. _Ugh what am I getting myself into._ About halfway up to the top floor (of course Bruce Wayne's office is at the top) the doors opened and to her surprise, Mr. Wayne boarded the elevator.

"Hello there Alice," Mr. Wayne greeted sweetly. Alice was surprised to see that he was in a cheery mood and oddly perky.

"Good morning Mr. Wayne." came her greeting with a shy smile.

"Alice my dear how long have you been working for me?" he asked raising his eyebrow questioningly.

"Uh," Alice stammered nervously, "about three, almost four months sir."

"Than why is it every time I speak to you I must remind you, it's Bruce, not 'Mr. Wayne'. Honestly you make me feel like an old man." he said this with a small laugh, following Alice through the elevator door as they reached their floor.

"I'll remember that...Bruce." Alice couldn't help but say with a smile as he waved a goodbye and entered his office.

"Oh and Alice?" Bruce asked before completely closing his office door, head peaking out at her.

"Yes, Bruce?"

"I'm going to be rather busy today, so if you wouldn't mind just taking a message from anyone who calls."

Alice nodded her head as he shut his door and left her alone. She set her bag on her desk and got to work. A few hours passed and Alice couldn't help but wonder what Bruce did in that office of his for so long. Being bored as usual she took out her phone and once again found a surprising text.

'**I wouldn't ignore me if I were you.'**

Alice couldn't help herself. It was a slow boring day and this was the only interesting thing that had happened to her lately. She _had _to text back.

'_Why is that?'_

A few minutes passed before a reply came and giddily she opened it.

**'We wouldn't want that pretty face of yours smeared across the pavement now would we?'**


	3. Chapter 3

Days had passed and Alice had refused to look at her phone. The last text she had received haunted her but she could not reply to a person like that. She had taken all the precautions she could think of, changing numbers, switching to a different flat, ignoring anything out of the ordinary. It had been weeks and the mysterious texter had yet to contact her. She was finally starting to follow her normal routine again.

One lazy Sunday morning Alice woke up and she could tell it was going to be a glorious day. The sun was shining through her window, the birds were singing (surprisingly pretty for city birds), she felt awake. Dressing to impress for no one in particular she looked admiringly at herself in her floor length bedroom mirror. Sexy (but sophisticated) tank, high-wasted floral skirt, and surprisingly, even her hair looked good. Smiling to herself she frolicked over to her fridge to make a delightful bowl of strawberries and pineapple.

As she was shutting the fridge door she noticed something she did not remember from the night before, an envelope. It was a normal looking envelope, white, size of a post card, stuck onto her fridge with one of her kitty magnets. The only odd thing about it was that she had not placed it there. After gently placing the fruit down upon the counter she took the envelope and sat down on her couch with it. _Please be something normal._ Flipping it over she noticed for the first time that her name was written in a delicate calligraphy across the back, right underneath the seal. The seal was what puzzled her the most. It was in the shape of what appeared to be a circus performer. Very carefully she broke it with her fore finger and pulled out a fancy card that looked like an invitation.

It was an invitation to the latest Wayne Enterprise Gala. The card was crème colored with flowy text sprawled across; 'You Are Cordially Invited To Attend Circus De Wayne!'. _Well that explains the seal. _It included the time and date and made sure to specify that the event would be black tie. Still feeling weight in the envelope Alice peeked inside and was surprised to find another card. Pulling it out she was disturbed to see that in her hand was a joker card, with something vaguely familiar about it. Carelessly throwing the joker card aside she looked again at the invite. _I wonder if Bruce had someone place it here for me, _she tried to hide a small smile from herself, _I need to do some major shopping._

The next day at work Alice was not surprised to learn that Bruce would not be in that day. She couldn't help but to feel a bit disappointed at his absence. Not that she wanted to see him or anything. She was simply just curious on how he got the invite into her flat without her noticing a thing.

For the next week she spent her days in the office daydreaming about what to wear and handsome men. It was the perfect place to meet that perfect someone. She couldn't help but to be excited. By the day of the event she had everything ready for wearing. Her dress was a deep red 30's styled silhouette floor length dress, and she had found the cutest heels in a boutique she had recently discovered. After her face was made to perfection, and her hair just the way she wanted it, Alice hailed a cab and set off towards the hotel where the event was taking place.

Alice jaw nearly dropped as a man in a tux politely opened her cab door for her. She was surrounded by limos and fancy cars, and only the best of the best seemed in attendance. A little nervous she went inside and got her name checked off off the name list. Finding her table seemed to take ages, though once she found it she was surprised to see that she would be sitting with Bruce and some other 'higher up' people from work. They greeted her warmly and she did her best to try and understand the conversation around her.

"So Alice," a man by the name of Harold started, "are you excited for the show tonight?"

Blushing slightly she replied, "Actually, I'm not quite sure I know what it's about.." around the tables there were brightly colored stools and in front of them all was a large stage covered in colorful props. She knew that the party was circus themed but Alice didn't quite understand what was to happen throughout the evening.

"Well," Bruce cut in, leaning forward on the table slightly, "About a year ago I was abroad in Italy when I stumbled across the most amazing performance by a traveling circus. It just so happened that they were within the United States this month so I just had to have them be the main event of the evening."

"Oh? And what is so amazing about this circus?" questioned a woman by the name of Ingrid who sat to the right of Harold.

"It's just so fantastic!" Bruce beamed, "Just you wait, there will be dancing and music, tricks and magic-"

"Magic?" laughed Ingrid, "Lets hope the Joker doesn't try to show us any tricks tonight." the table laughed at her joke, but Alice remained silent, the mention of the Joker bothered her for some reason.

"Oh Bruce!" Alice exclaimed suddenly, "I forgot to thank you for my invitation, I was curious on how you managed to get it-"

"I wasn't the one to send you an invite Alice.." Bruce said slowly.

"But i found it in my home! It had to be from yo-" Alice was cut off by a man dressed sharply, and clearly under much stress, who had just approached the table.

"Excuse me, Mr. Bruce Wayne?" he asked tentatively.

"Winston!" Bruce exclaimed jumping up to shake the mans hand, clearly forgetting his conversation with Alice, "You really out did yourself this time, the place looks incredible!". The table nodded in agreement adding comments of pleasure. "The only problem Winston is... where are the performers?" Winstons face turned white.

"Well, sir, they seem to be late."

"Have they called? Have _you_ called?"

"Yes sir, I did. They told me they were running late. I just came over to inform you of their delay and to ask if you wanted to start with appetizers now...?"

Bruce smiled warmly at the man before him, "Of course not! It's a dinner theatre tonight, I'm sure the citizens of Gotham can wait a few more moments, go on and get everything ready for the performers arrival." Winston nodded and left. Bruce shook his head in amusement and sat back down at the table. "I've hired that man for nearly all of my parties and yet he still shakes when he talks to me."

"Awe you were teasing him Bruce!" Alice said with a laugh, "You were making him so nervous."

The table continued on with their small talk, though to Alices dismay she never had the chance to reask Bruce about her invite. Though soon the lights dimmed and Bruce started getting an excited glint in his eye. _He acts as if a child,_ Alice thought with a smile as she gave him a quick glance. Soon strobe lights of green started flashing and eerie music started playing. Right away Alice noticed a change in Bruce's demeanor, he was casting worried looks around the room of curious people and had made a call already into his bluetooth.

"Ladies and gentleman!" a voice cackled from the stage. Mist had appeared and it took a few moments for the man to be seen by the audience. "Have I got a show for you."

Indeed Ingrid was right, the Joker had come to show his magic tricks.


End file.
